Truss-pad



(No Model.)

F. N. NORRIS & G. E. SWEET.

; v muss PAD. No. 266,188. Patented Oct. 17, 1882.

M Q III/0611151":

UNlTne STATES PATENT Trice.

FBEDERiCK N. NORRIS, OF POUGHKEEPSIE, AND CLAYTON E. SWEET, OF WAPPINGERS FALLS, NEW YORK.

TRUSS-PAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 266,188, dated October 17, 1882.

Application filed July 8,1882. (No model.)

I all whom at may concern Be it known that we, FREDERICK N. NOR- BIS, of Poughkecpsie, and CLAYTON E. SWEET, of Wappingers Falls, both ill the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pad- Relieving Devices for Trusses, of which the following is a specification.

In the construction of trusses the pad of I 0 wood, ivory, rubber, or other material, is often secured to a pad-plate, and said pad-plate is hinged to a supporting-plate rigidly attached to the bed-plate forming part of the truss-belt. The hinging of the pad-plate to its supportingplate enables it to be tilted at different angles thereto, so as to press with more or less pressure on the body, and devices of various kinds have been employed to secure the pad-plate in such different positions relatively to the padsupporting plate, and for releasing the pad when desired, so that it may swing outward and be relieved of pressure. In Letters Patent of the United States No. 238,955, granted to us March 15, 1881, we have shown and described a pawl hinged to the pad-supporting plate and working through the pad-plate, a ratchet-bar rigidly secured to the inner side of the pad-plate, and with which said pawl engages, and a leverfulcrumed to the inner side of the pad-plate and adapted to be operated by a push-button at the front of the pad-plate to move the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet-bar, and thus release the pad.

Our present invention consists in a novel 5 combination of devices, hereinafter described,

for regulating the pressure of the pad and relieving it of pressure when desired, whereby we provide a more simple and desirable arrangement of parts than that previously pat- 4.0 ented by us.

In the accompanyingdrawings, Figure 1 represents a front view of a pad-plate and a supporting-plate embodying our invention. Fig. 2 represents a sectional view of the pad and 5 pad-plate and an edge view of the supportingplate; and Fig. 3 represents a back view of the pad-plate.

Similar-letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

5o Adesignates the pad,whichisof wood,ivory,

hard rubber, or other suitable material, and B designates the padplate, to which it is rigidly secured.

U designates the pad-supporting plate, which is adapted to be rigidly secured to the bedplate forming part of the truss-belt by a screw,

a, or otherwise.

The pad-plate B is hinged to the supportingplate 0 at b, so that it may be swung readily inward or outward at any angle desired.

D designates a toothed segment or rack rigidly connected with the pad-supporting plateO, and working through a slot, 0, in the bed-plate. This. segment or rack is here shown as provided with ratchet-teeth, and on the front of 6 the pad-plate B is a sliding stop or dog, E, the end of which is adapted to engage with the teeth of and lock said segment or rack. The said stop or dog is provided with headed pins or studs 01, which work in slots 0 in the padplate, and the stop or dog is drawn into and kept in engagement with thesegment or rack D by means of a spiral spring, f, on the back of the pad-plate, and attached at one end to a stud or pin, g, fixed ill the pad-plate, and at the other end to one of the studs or pins d, as best shown in Fig. 2.

The segment or rack D is provided at its inner end with a projection or lip, h, which strikes upon the inner side of the pad-plate and forms a stop to prevent the segment or rack from being entirely withdrawn from the pad-plate B.

When the pad-supporting plate (J is fast on the bed-plate of the truss-belt, and it is desired to increase the pressure of the pad, all that is necessary is to press the pad-plate and pad inward, and the ratchet-teeth of the segment or rack will ride over the stop or dog E, but will retain the pad and pad-plate in their inward position.

When it is desired to relieve the pad of pressure the stop or dog E must be drawn or slid out of engagement with the segment or rack D.

The teeth of the segment or rack might be spur-teeth; but in such case the stop or dog 5 would have to be drawn out of engagement therewith both when the pad-plate is pressed inward and when it is desired to release it to allow it to move outward.

We do not here claim broadly the combination, with a pad-supportin g plate and pad-plate hinged together, of arack, segment, or ratchet bar applied to one part and a pawl or dog to the other part for the purpose of adjusting the pressure of the pad and relieving it of pressure when desired, as such a combination is shown in our Letters Patent hereinbei'ore referred to.

\Vhat We claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a pad supporting plate and a pad plate hinged thereto, of a toothed segment or rack rigidly attached to the supporting-plate and working through the padplate, a sliding stop or dog on the exterior of the pad-plate, and a. spring for holding said stop or dog in engagement with said segment;

or rack, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. lhe combination of the pad-plate B and pad-supporting plate 0, hinged together at b, the segment or rack D, provided with ratchetteeth, and the stop h, the sliding stop or dog E, and the spring f, substantially as herein described.

FREDERICK N. NORRIS. CLAYTON SWEET.

\Vitnesses: I

(l. W. BARTRUM, JOHN H. RoY. 

